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Expansion plans at Exel are turning the Westerville-based logistics company into “a juggernaut”
in the shipping and distribution business.

The company provides warehouse and distribution management for retailers including JCPenney,
Sears, Office Depot, 7-Eleven and Williams-Sonoma. It is one of the top companies in the sector,
said retail analyst Chris Boring, principal of Boulevard Strategies.

“Logistics is one of the fastest-growing industries in central Ohio and the country in general,”
Boring said. “Exel is a juggernaut that is tapping into that market.”

Exel plans to expand its Westerville headquarters and open a freight brokerage Downtown,
ultimately adding 201 jobs and $17.7 million in payroll to the local economy.

Exel has 540 employees and a $62 million annual payroll in Westerville, which serves as the
headquarters for the company in both North and South America. Exel is owned by Deutsche Post DHL of
Germany.

Exel has about 2,000 employees in Franklin and Delaware counties, 3,400 in Ohio and 20,000 in
the United States.

At its Westerville headquarters, Exel plans to add 84 employees and $10.5 million to its payroll
in the next five years, company officials said.

Central Ohio “is one of the most-attractive locations in the U.S. for a national, one-facility,
e-commerce distribution center,” Exel officials said.

“Because of the large footprint we have in Columbus, we can leverage a very large and adaptable
labor pool for the benefit of all our customers,” said Dan McNutt, vice president of
operations.

The logistics and distribution sector has been “a huge growth area for years and years in
central Ohio,” said Bill LaFayette, owner of the economics-consulting firm Regionomics.

Westerville is providing a $300,000, five-year, no-interest loan to offset renovation costs
associated with the planned expansion of Exel’s existing facilities. The Westerville facilities, at
550 and 570 Polaris Parkway, occupy a total of about 129,000 square feet.

Exel has been in the Polaris Parkway buildings since 2003. Before that, the company had operated
since its arrival in town in 1991 at a site on Schrock Road.

In its expansion Downtown, Exel plans to open its freight-brokerage service in the second
quarter, and within five years employ 117 workers with a $7.2 million annual payroll.

A freight brokerage typically doesn’t handle freight but serves as a middleman between a company
that needs shipping service and carriers.

The service will move into 26,000 square feet of an existing building, on the fourth floor of
226 N. 5th St.

“We’re getting the space built out for our needs,” Anderson said. “Because it works a little bit
differently from the office environment we have in Westerville, we’re putting it in a distinct
space Downtown.”

Exel is working with Columbus officials on financial incentives, the details of which will be
discussed at the Feb. 3 Columbus City Council meeting, she said.